Head of Met broke rules over Plebgate

The Yard boss breached guidance by keeping no notes of a meeting at which he is accused of leaking to reporters, says David Leppard

David Leppard

Sunday June 09 2013, 1.01am, The Sunday Times

David Leppard

Sunday June 09 2013, 1.01am, The Sunday Times

THE Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, broke his own force’s rules by failing to keep a record of private conversations with journalists.

In a letter to Stephen Rimmer, the head of crime and policing at the Home Office, Hogan-Howe admitted that he had talked to reporters about Operation Alice, the Met’s criminal inquiry into the “Plebgate” affair that led to the resignation of Andrew Mitchell as chief whip.

Hogan-Howe also admitted that these conversations took place only days before the journalists wrote articles claiming that the investigation had found “no evidence” that officers stationed in Downing Street had lied about being verbally abused by Mitchell. In a detailed response to claims by Mitchell’s allies that Hogan-Howe had personally leaked details of a secret Met